Library / English Dictionary

AMERICAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The English language as used in the United States

Synonyms:

American; American English; American language

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("American" is a kind of...):

English; English language (an Indo-European language belonging to the West Germanic branch; the official language of Britain and the United States and most of the commonwealth countries)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "American"):

AAVE; African American English; African American Vernacular English; Black English; Black English Vernacular; Black Vernacular; Black Vernacular English; Ebonics (a nonstandard form of American English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United States)

Derivation:

American (of or relating to the United States of America or its people or language or culture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A native or inhabitant of a North American or Central American or South American country

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("American" is a kind of...):

denizen; dweller; habitant; indweller; inhabitant (a person who inhabits a particular place)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "American"):

West Indian (a native or inhabitant of the West Indies)

Mesoamerican (a member of one of the various peoples inhabiting Mesoamerica)

South American (a native or inhabitant of South America)

North American (a native or inhabitant of North America)

Latin American; Latino (a native of Latin America)

Creole (a person of European descent born in the West Indies or Latin America)

Holonyms ("American" is a member of...):

South America (the nations of the South American continent collectively)

Central America (the nations of Central America collectively)

North America (the nations of the North American continent collectively)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A native or inhabitant of the United States

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("American" is a kind of...):

denizen; dweller; habitant; indweller; inhabitant (a person who inhabits a particular place)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "American"):

Texan (a native or resident of Texas)

Tennessean; Volunteer (a native or resident of Tennessee)

South Dakotan (a native or resident of South Dakota)

South Carolinian (a native or resident of South Carolina)

Rhode Islander (a native or resident of Rhode Island)

Keystone Stater; Pennsylvanian (a native or resident of Pennsylvania)

Beaver; Oregonian (a native or resident of Oregon)

Oklahoman; Sooner (a native or resident of Oklahoma)

Buckeye; Ohioan (a native or resident of Ohio)

North Dakotan (a native or resident of North Dakota)

North Carolinian; Tarheel (a native or resident of North Carolina)

New Yorker (a native or resident of New York (especially of New York City))

New Mexican (a native or resident of New Mexico)

Garden Stater; New Jerseyan; New Jerseyite (a native of resident of New Jersey)

Granite Stater; New Hampshirite (a native or resident of New Hampshire)

Nevadan (a native or resident of Nevada)

Cornhusker; Nebraskan (a native or resident of Nebraska)

Northerner; Yank; Yankee (an American who lives in the North (especially during the American Civil War))

Tory (an American who favored the British side during the American Revolution)

Hispanic; Hispanic American; Spanish American (an American whose first language is Spanish)

Southerner (an American who lives in the South)

Nisei (a person born in the United States of parents who emigrated from Japan)

New Englander; Yankee (an American who lives in New England)

Appalachian (a native or inhabitant of Appalachia)

Yank; Yankee; Yankee-Doodle (an American (especially to non-Americans))

Puerto Rican (a native or resident of Puerto Rico)

Wyomingite (a native or resident of Wyoming)

Badger; Wisconsinite (a native or resident of Wisconsin)

West Virginian (a native or resident of West Virginia)

Washingtonian (a native or resident of the city of Washington)

Washingtonian (a native or resident of the state of Washington)

Virginian (a native or resident of Virginia)

Vermonter (a native or resident of Vermont)

Utahan (a native or resident of Utah)

Asian American (an American who is of Asian descent)

Creole (a person descended from French ancestors in southern United States (especially Louisiana))

Anglo-American (an American who was born in Britain or one whose ancestors were British)

Alabaman; Alabamian (a native or resident of Alabama)

Alaskan (a native or resident of Alaska)

Arizonan; Arizonian (a native or resident of Arizona)

Arkansan; Arkansawyer (a native or resident of Arkansas)

Bay Stater (a native or resident of Massachusetts)

Bostonian (a native or resident of Boston)

Californian (a native or resident of California)

Carolinian (a native or resident of the Carolinas)

Coloradan (a native or resident of Colorado)

Connecticuter (a native or resident of Connecticut)

Delawarean; Delawarian (a native or resident of Delaware)

Floridian (a native or resident of Florida)

Franco-American (an American who was born in France or whose ancestors were French)

Montanan (a native or resident of Montana)

Missourian (a native or resident of Missouri)

Mississippian (a native or resident of Mississippi)

Gopher; Minnesotan (a native or resident of Minnesota)

Michigander; Wolverine (a native or resident of Michigan)

Marylander (a native or resident of Maryland)

Down Easter; Mainer (a native or resident of Maine)

Louisianan; Louisianian (a native or resident of Louisiana)

Bluegrass Stater; Kentuckian (a native or resident of Kentucky)

Kansan (a native or resident of Kansas)

Iowan (a native or resident of Iowa)

Hoosier; Indianan (a native or resident of Indiana)

Illinoisan (a native or resident of Illinois)

Idahoan (a native or resident of Idaho)

Hawaiian (a native or resident of Hawaii)

Georgian (a native or resident of the American state of Georgia)

German American (an American who was born in Germany or whose ancestors were German)

Holonyms ("American" is a member of...):

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

Derivation:

American (of or relating to the United States of America or its people or language or culture)

Americanize (make American in character)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of the continents and islands of the Americas

Example:

American flora and fauna

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

America (North America and South America and Central America)

Derivation:

America (North America and South America and Central America)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to the United States of America or its people or language or culture

Example:

the American dream

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

America (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

Derivation:

America (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

American (the English language as used in the United States)

American (a native or inhabitant of the United States)

Americanize (become American in character)

Americanize (make American in character)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Diabetes affects more than 30 million Americans according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

(Researchers Develop Insulin-Producing Cells Activated by Light for Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A low score reflects good adherence to screen recommendations by the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP).

(Too Much Screen Time Changes Structure of Toddlers' Brains, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Working 49 or more hours per week is linked to a 66% higher chance of getting hypertension, according to an American Heart Association study.

(High Blood Pressure Liked to Long Hours on Job, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Denotes a person of European, Middle Eastern, or North African ancestral origins whose family settled in a North American country such as the United States of America or Canada.

(North American, NCI Thesaurus)

The fossil monkey is closely related to living South American monkeys, such as capuchins.

(First-ever fossil monkey found in North America, NSF)

The CIS serves as the NCI's primary mechanism to disseminate accurate up-to-date information to the American public at the communit

(Office of Cancer Information, Communication, and Education, NCI Thesaurus)

Rice, cooked as American housewives never cook it and can never learn to cook it, appeared on Martin's table at least once a day.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A person not of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

(Not Hispanic or Latino, NCI Thesaurus)

A section of the Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) physical health questionnaire that rates the type of comorbidity and the impact of that comorbidity on an individual's daily function.

(Older Americans Resources and Services Comorbidity Scale, NCI Thesaurus)

A term that refers to the staging of oropharyngeal carcinoma according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer, 6th edition.

(Oropharyngeal Carcinoma by AJCC v6 Stage, NCI Thesaurus)